Effects on water quality following water transfer in Lake Taihu, China

Abstract To improve lake water quality, two experimental water transfers were conducted in winter–spring 2002 and summer–fall 2003 in Lake Taihu, a large shallow lake in China. Both observed data and estimated nutrient concentration with the elimination of effect from natural factors were used in this research to assess the spatial and temporal variations of water quality improvement induced by the two transfers. Clear improvement of water quality associated with deduction of TN, TP, and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) concentration was observed in many areas of the lake during the two water transfers. The over all reduction in TP concentration was notable in Southwest Zone, Centre Zone, and Dongtaihu Bay during the 2002 transfer, and was more pronounced in Meiliang Bay and Southwest Zone during the 2003 transfer period. However, the reduction in TN and Chl-a concentration was relatively weak. Results indicate a less impressive improvement of water quality from water transfer in large lakes than in small ones as the effectiveness of water transfer in large lakes is generally limited by large size, complex boundaries, and the difficulty of finding proper water source to be transferred. The comparison of observed and estimated water transfer effectiveness suggests a greater improvement of water quality derived from water transfer than appeared from the observation.